Everyone had stepped back except for Jeremiah, who held a gun, and Declan who stood right beside him.
Declan watched as Jeremiah took aim. Playing along with the prince wasn’t much different from how he’d done so with the emperor.
Therefore, he had to ignore all personal feelings he’d been experiencing lately.
A heavy gunshot rang out at close range. Only then did Declan look up to check the target.
The bullet Jeremiah fired had struck slightly off from the center of the target. Considering the distance to the target, it was a fairly decent performance.
“Excellent.”
However, Jeremiah frowned in dissatisfaction. He raised his hand to gauge the center of the shot and said:
“You’re not being sincere. How can it be excellent when I missed the dead center by quite a bit?”
“Given the shooting distance, it’s quite impressive, Your Highness.”
Jeremiah snorted and put down the gun irritably. Then he looked at Declan with an unfriendly gaze.
‘Is it because of that pretty face that the Imperial Princess fell for him?’
Given how the consistently cold Imperial Princess would subtly tense up whenever this man was mentioned, it seemed the scandal wasn’t entirely baseless.
Jeremiah sized up the man from the corner of his eye.
‘Looking at appearances alone, they do match…’
But when he thought of the Imperial Princess’s sensitive and neurotic temperament, he couldn’t help but tilt his head in doubt. He couldn’t possibly imagine this insensitive man being compatible with the Imperial Princess.
While he had no intention of interfering in others’ love affairs, he needed to grasp the truth accurately.
After all, even epic heroes occasionally make fatal mistakes when blinded by love.
He’d tried to probe Sienna a few times, but she would only become reticent whenever the Grand Duke was mentioned.
Then what about this man?
Jeremiah, who had been staring expressionlessly at Declan, suddenly smirked.
“The Imperial Princess seems to think you’re quite a brilliant strategist.”
“I’m honored.”
Surprised by the purely ceremonial response, Jeremiah’s eyes widened slightly. Then he belatedly remembered there was another Imperial Princess in the empire.
“Ah, I mean the Second Imperial Princess, not the First Imperial Princess.”
The purple eyes that had been indifferently fixed on the target turned toward him. Jeremiah’s lips curled up.
“The Second Imperial Princess told me so. That the Grand Duke is a loyal man.”
Declan, who had been quietly watching him, suddenly let out a hollow laugh. It was as if he’d heard an absurd joke.
“You seem to be quite close with the Imperial Princess.”
“Does that bother you?”
Jeremiah asked sarcastically.
“It’s not a matter of whether it bothers me or not, Your Highness.”
Declan answered with a faint smile.
“Being overly familiar with your future stepmother wouldn’t look good in anyone’s eyes.”
“How kind of you. Showing such concern for someone you barely know.”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not worried about you, Your Highness, but about the Imperial Princess who might be stigmatized before she even sets foot in your country.”
Jeremiah’s brow furrowed at the voice full of amusement.
“That seems like presumptuous meddling to me. As you said, I’ll soon become family with her, but you’re truly just a man with no connection to her at all.”
But when Declan still showed no reaction, Jeremiah felt provoked.
“Unless…you love the Imperial Princess as a man?”
“That’s preposterous, Your Highness.”
Love.
It was too unfamiliar a word, and Declan suddenly sneered. It was too sweet and beautiful an expression to label his feelings.
He desired her. In truth, she was the object of all his emotions.
Feelings rooted over many years couldn’t be easily removed. Thinking he could make a new start because he’d gotten a new life was a complete miscalculation.
He should have repeated everything exactly as before.
He should have pretended to be her savior, acting like he was rescuing her from the pit, keeping her by his side.
Then, even if his pride was torn to shreds by those cold blue eyes, he could have at least held her body while sleeping. Even if he could never win her heart, he could have monopolized her under the qualification of being her husband.
Could he dare call this sordid desire love?
Even if it were, what would it matter now?
****
Meanwhile, Dahlia was frantically searching her entire room. But no matter how thoroughly she searched every corner, she couldn’t find what she was looking for, causing her face to grow more anxious.
As she stepped into the hallway with a pale face, she spotted two maids walking from the Duke’s bedroom. Dahlia hurriedly caught them and asked:
“Excuse me, have you seen my brooch? The one I wear every day – I can’t find it anywhere.”
It was her only brooch. It was also the only heirloom from her mother, whose face she could barely remember. The maids looked indifferently at Dahlia’s visibly anxious face and shrugged.
“Well, not sure. Maybe it got mixed in with the Duke’s luggage?”
“There was so much luggage, it might have gotten confused.”
The maid beside her added:
“Why don’t you look for it again carefully?”
After adding these dismissive words, the two started to walk away. Dahlia hastily grabbed the maids who were about to leave.
“I’m sorry, but could it be in that pile of laundry?”
The maid made an unpleasant face. Realizing her mistake belatedly, Dahlia tried to explain:
“I mean, that’s not what I…”
“Why don’t you look for it yourself then?”
The maid said curtly, practically throwing down the basket.
The laundry basket, unable to maintain its balance, fell sideways. As a result, the clothes inside spilled onto the floor.
“Let’s go.”
The maids turned away, mocking her.
Dahlia, who had been standing there stupidly, only let out a deep sigh after the maids disappeared from view. She sat down to pick up the laundry scattered in the middle of the hallway.
The maids of both the Duke’s household and the Imperial Palace subtly looked down on her. No, beyond just looking down on her, they treated her as one of their own.
Although she was called a noble lady on the surface, the fact that half of her bloodline came from a lowly maid was the reason. Perhaps because of this, they were always halfhearted in attending to her.
As she was picking up the fallen items one by one, someone from the opposite side began helping to gather the laundry.
“Ah, thank…”
Dahlia’s gaze inadvertently looked up as she was offering thanks. When she confirmed his face, she was startled.
“S-S-Sir Monches?”
“It’s been a while, My Lady.”
Theo smiled as their eyes met. Dahlia’s face rapidly turned red. He held up the laundry and asked:
“Did the maids leave this behind?”
Extremely flustered and not knowing what to do, Dahlia shook her head vigorously.
“No, that’s not it… I was just looking for something.”
“Ah.”
Theo nodded. Though the laundry scattered in the middle of the hallway was suspicious, fortunately he didn’t ask any more questions.
“Let me help you.”
Instead, saying that, he sat down beside Dahlia. Dahlia waved her hands in horror.
“No! You don’t need to…!”
“Come now. You’ll dirty your hands. Just stay still.”
When Theo said this with a smile, Dahlia’s face turned crimson as if it might burst.
If one had to say, this was typically Dahlia’s preference.
While everyone unanimously praised the Grand Duke as being as beautiful as the Sun God, in Dahlia’s eyes, there was no sight more splendid than Theodore Monches’s eye-crinkling smile.
As Dahlia was picking up laundry while secretly glancing at him, something dropped at her feet with a thud. When she looked down, she saw the red gemstone brooch she had been looking for.
“Ah, thank goodness.”
Dahlia sighed in relief as she grasped the brooch. As she rose while wiping the jewel with her dress sleeve, she bowed her head to Theo.
“Thank you for your help, Sir Monches.”
“It’s nothing. However…”
Theo held up a small box and asked:
“Is this yours as well, My Lady?”
Dahlia looked at what he was holding with a puzzled expression. It was a velvet box just the right size to fit in one’s palm. It was something she had never seen before.
‘Could it be Uncle’s?’
Tilting her head in confusion, Dahlia soon smiled uncertainly and said:
“Ah, I think so.”
Theo firmly placed the box in her hand.
“Good thing you found it before it got swept away with the laundry.”
At his kind words, Dahlia smiled shyly.
“Thank you so much for helping me today.”
“It was only natural. Take care then, My Lady.”
Theo treated Dahlia with gentlemanly manners until the end.
Dahlia stood there like a statue, watching his retreating figure with an enraptured expression until he completely disappeared from view.
Her steps toward her room were as light as feathers when she turned around. The memory of being disrespected by the maids had already completely vanished.
Preciously holding the brooch in one hand, she looked down at the small box in her other hand.
If it wasn’t hers, it must be the Duke’s. Coming to this simple conclusion, Dahlia quietly opened his door.
‘He’s not here.’
Come to think of it, she seemed to have heard there was a meeting today about the Imperial Princess’s marriage. Though she wondered why the retired old Duke would attend such an occasion. For Dahlia, his absence was always welcome.
Today must be my lucky day. As Dahlia was happily opening the drawer, her gaze suddenly turned to the box.
‘I wonder what this is?’
She glanced outside once and then slightly opened the box lid.
What was revealed before her eyes was a ring set with a large sapphire.
